Was 2023 a tipping point for movies? 'Barbie' success and Marvel struggles may signal shift

Doesn't people get tired of seeing the same, and the same failed superheroes silly movies????...

Comparing recent superhero movies (woke trash) with peak Avengers movies is not really fair. It's no wonder fans don't want to watch them.

The quality of the film is more important than the genre. Over-saturation within a genre will inevitably lead to a dearth of stimulating flicks. It takes good writers and actors to overcome this. Will comedies, thrillers or romance movies ever go out of style? Superhero movies are at a disadvantage because they rely so much on CGI instead of the script or acting. BTW, I don't expect to enjoy every movie I go to see but "Barbie" is the quintessential example of a movie that I wouldn't have gone to see if I knew what it was all about.

Comparing recent superhero movies (woke trash) with peak Avengers movies is not really fair. It's no wonder fans don't want to watch them

We have established that ‘go woke, go broke’ is absolute bollocks.

Are you saying that people don’t watch recent superhero movies because they are woke?

It’s not clear.

People who have an obsession over what they define as "wokeness" really makes me smile. Anything that doesn't fit their take on life is to be condemned.

Sure some trends and pc notions can grate, but I don't let that spoil my life - esp not in the world of cinema - a fantasy escape.

As the article stated - trends rise and fall, but rarely disappear.

Westerns are the biggest example. Just how many more hero cowboys can be squeezed out of the genre?

I never hear the woke-downers deriding the nonsense of another fake super cowboy ala John Wayne and all the good guy histrionics.

Simply movies are entertainment whether they be CG packed action films or minimally cast human dramas or mind stretching SF or horror. Some have brilliant scripts, some don't. Some have brilliant acting, some don't.

Being an atheist, I could still take a lot out of Gibson's "The Passion of Christ". As a modern escapist I could enjoy thoroughly ALL of the Alien movies. Barbie was a great watch to be amused by and laughed at and absorbed by in parts. Only nit-pickers with an agenda to seek out "wokeness" could dislike it, instead of just letting it wash over you with a grin.

I love movies.

Saturation over production, bad inexperienced writers & directors, studio micromanagement, woke producers & writers, and inflated budgets cause theatre releases are all expected to be blockbusters. All has contributed to the downfall of the superhero genre. The Marvels production budget alone was close to $300mil. Add in marketing and promotion costs and it doubles to $500 - $600mil. That puts extreme pressure to make a profit after such a huge investment. To make that much money, the film has to appeal to a wide range of people resulting in water-downed generic themes and political messaging so that everybody is appeased. You're not making films for your core audience who in the end are your true return customers.

Hollywood needs to consider a different strategy of producing more films with smaller budgets, targeted at core audiences, with narratives that deliver what those audiences want. They're putting all their eggs in one basket with blockbuster budgets and in the end produce a crap, diminished product.

Which doesn't mean that the superhero genre can't be resurrected. People are still willing to pay and see them but those audiences need a better product.

Much has been said about Godzilla Minus One's production budget of only $15mil which shows just how excessive Hollywood has become. Makes you wonder what they're spending so much on even taking into account numerous reshoots which show just how bad the writing and directing has become. Kind of a wake-up call for Hollywood. That being said, the negative is that Japan's cinema industry has long been known for woefully underpaying crews and terrible working conditions. That needs to change. If the budget doubled to $30mil to properly pay crews and improve conditions, it still comes in far, far less than Hollywood films.

Are you saying that people don’t watch recent superhero movies because they are woke?

"Get woke go broke" is an established law of economics and marketing because no customer will ever willingly pay for political propaganda

However, that's NOT the reason why supers are failing in theaters. The real reason is that superheroes were honestly never that popular in the first place, films have been constantly declining in quality since the franchise first started 2008, the market is oversaturated, and the stories are too complicated to follow.

To many people, high quality streaming drama series have surpassed movies for a while now.

With all them superhero films appearing non stop, no wonder people get fed up with them. Overdosed on the same old same old methinks, oh yeah.

*However, that's NOT the reason why supers are failing in theaters. The real reason is that superheroes were honestly never that popular in the first place, films have been constantly declining in quality since the franchise first started 2008, the market is oversaturated, and the stories are too complicated to follow.*

Funny how generations of young people could carry around encyclopedic knowledge of these comic universes along with other nerdy pursuits with no problems but they are too complex for you.

Much has been said about Godzilla Minus One's production budget of only $15mil which shows just how excessive Hollywood has become.

*

This , yes. Godzilla Minus One, along with Korean cinema shows how to make compelling spectacle on a budget.

Funny how generations of young people could carry around encyclopedic knowledge of these comic universes

No, they don't, they just read everything off of a Wikipedia article or Fandom page.

along with other nerdy pursuits with no problems

Such as?

but they are too complex for you.

I don't understand the point you're trying to make. Are you unironically attempting to ridicule me because I don't want to put in the effort of tracking what basically amounts to a supernatural sci-fi soap opera that has been in constant syndication since the 1930's?

"Get woke go broke" is an established law of economics and marketing because no customer will ever willingly pay for political propaganda

You made a false illogical assertion that should be subject to ridicule.

The whole phenomenon of "faith-based" entertainment invalidates your assertion.

If there is one thing that needs cancelling in popular culture it is illogical blather asserting itself as "truths".

Judging from all of the comments thus far, I can safely assume nobody posting here knows anything about cinema. Surely none have written, produced, directed, filmed and edited professional music videos. This article raises pertinent questions that more knowledgeable people must answer, so the cerebrally sedentary public will know what films they should be supporting.

Marc LoweToday  04:08 pm JST

Judging from all of the comments thus far, I can safely assume nobody posting here knows anything about cinema. Surely none have written, produced, directed, filmed and edited professional music videos. This article raises pertinent questions that more knowledgeable people must answer, so the cerebrally sedentary public will know what films they should be supporting.

Do you have to be a politician to criticize politicians? Do you have to be a musician or singer to criticize a song and say why you don't like it? A chef to criticize a dish? Your premise makes little sense especially as films are an art form so a professional background isn't necessary to criticize it. One's preferences, tastes, experience, etc leads to reasons why we think a piece of art is good or bad for us.

And what do music videos have to do with cinema? If someone can make a 4min music video, does that automatically make them capable of making a good 90min film.

Come off your high horse and give us your knowledgeable "expert" analysis.

Pandering to a woke audience with androgynous and ethnic minority characters is going way off script.

I mean, Kree warriors were never brown!

They were white or blue FFS!

These kinds of films used to be marketed at 12 year olds. Now theyre for the dumbed down adult masses.

Most big blockbuster movies tend to rely on long fight scenes and CGI, which can be so boring.

Storytelling - often based on real life are the movies which stay in the mind for a long time. Something that makes you think or feel something.

More of these types would maybe turn the industry around.

My films of 2023.... Killers of the Flower Moon, Finestkind, The Killer, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (Tom Cruise is irritating, but this film is watchable), Anatomy of a Fall.

Disappointments, Oppenheimer.

Barbie?, sorry no comment I haven't viewed.

We watched Barbie a few days ago. It wasn't in a theater and isn't worth more than a rental, but it was a watch-once movie.

These days, every movie needs someone who isn't heterosexual, to check a box. We've been checking the "black person" or "Latino" or "ZYX group" box far too long. When watching movies, we don't pick based on arbitrary boxes, just the story needs to make us think or laugh or become excited.

I prefer movies that don't require knowing 5 other stories to make sense, unless I'm already a fan of the series. We call those "TV shows".

Judging from all of the comments thus far, I can safely assume nobody posting here knows anything about cinema. Surely none have written, produced, directed, filmed and edited professional music videos. This article raises pertinent questions that more knowledgeable people must answer, so the cerebrally sedentary public will know what films they should be supporting.

Bow down to Marc .!.

The MCUs downfall has been Disney's insistence on pushing their woke agenda into their films - they are unwatchable, woke nonsense now, for the most part. Barbie, actually, wasn't much better. In a year that had a masterpiece like Oppenheimer, Barbie's success merely reminds us that people still enjoy unthinking fluff as well.